Did Chick-Fil-A Create The Facebook Profile Of Abby Farle?

Not long after Atlanta-based fast food restaurant Chick-Fil-A was grilled on Facebook for its stance on gay marriage, the company is under fire again for its use of the social network. Various outlets reported that Chick-Fil-A opened a Facebook account as a teenage girl named Abby Farle as a way to argue claims in a post on the restaurant's Facebook page, but a Chick-Fil-A spokeswoman told AllFacebook that this is false.

Not long after Atlanta-based fast food restaurant Chick-Fil-A was grilled on Facebook for its stance on gay marriage, the company is under fire again for its use of the social network. Various outlets reported that Chick-Fil-A opened a Facebook account as a teenage girl named Abby Farle as a way to argue claims in a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, but a Chick-Fil-A spokeswoman told AllFacebook that this is false.

Chick-Fil-A Spokeswoman Tiffany Greenway told AllFacebook that the company is not responsible for the creation of Abby Farle. When asked how Chick-Fil-A has been managing its Facebook page in recent days, after its president and chief operating officer, Dan Cathy, came out in support of anti-gay marriage efforts, Greenway said the company had no further comments.

We can confirm that Chick-Fil-A has not created any false Facebook page, account, or persona of any kind. Our official corporate Facebook page continues to be our only one.

However, others disagree with Greenway. BuzzFeed also reported that another profile was created (and deleted), where the only activities recorded were posts sticking up for Chick-Fil-A.

The basis of the argument started when the Jim Henson Co., which in the past had partnered with Chick-Fil-A to provide Muppets toys in kids’ meals, publicly withdrew support for the restaurant on Facebook. A widely circulated photo of an announcement in a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Texas explained that it would no longer offer Muppets toys because of safety issues. Someone commented on Chick-Fil-A’s page, calling it out for this claim.

A profile named Abby Farle commented that the decision not to offer Muppets toys happened weeks ago. Another commenter noted that Farle’s profile was created only a few hours before this discussion and also pointed out that she was using a stock image of a teenage girl as her profile picture. Abby Farle has since been deleted.